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talk proposal.
'''Talk Proposals'''
== Our $50,000 Problem: Why Library School? ==
* Jennie Rose Halperin, jhalperin@mozilla.com, Mozilla Corporation
57 library schools in the United States are churning out approximately 100 graduates per year, many with debt upwards of $50,000. According to ONet, [http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2011/is-the-united-states-training-too-many-librarians-or-too-few-part-1/ 84% of library jobs in the US require an MLS.] The library profession is [http://dpeaflcio.org/programs-publications/issue-fact-sheets/library-workers-facts-figures/) 92% white and 82% female and entry-level librarians can expect to make $32,500 per year.]
Contrasted with developers, who are almost [http://www.ncwit.org/blog/did-you-know-demographics-technical-women 90% male] and can expect to make [http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2011/06/01/best-entry-level-jobs/ $70,000 in an entry-level position,] these numbers are dismal.
According to a recent survey, the top skill that outgoing library students want to know is “programming” and yet many MLS programs still consider Microsoft Word an essential technology skill.
What is going on here? Why do we accept this fate, where mostly female debt-burdened professionals continue to be thrown onto the work force without the education their expensive degrees promised?
As a community we need to come together to stop this cycle. We need to provide better support and mentorship to diversify and keep the profession relevant and help librarianship move into the future it deserves.
This talk will walk through the challenges of navigating a hostile employment environment as well as present models for better development and future state imagining.
== No cataloging software? Need more than Dublin Core? No problem!: Experiences with CollectiveAccess ==
* [[User:SeanHendricks|Sean Q. Hendricks]], sqhendr@clemson.edu, Clemson University
